by Donna Giberti
Sunday, October 31 was not your average morning at the Cape Cod Synagogue religious school. Unlike most Sunday mornings where the students join together as peers to study Judaism, it was Halloween too, and while they were eager to share plans with their friends about their costumes for that night, they were also overwhelmingly eager to share their thoughts on bullying.
The day was marked to present an anti-bullying workshop, held by Wendy Lavenda-Carroll, the religious school’s coordinator. With data provided by education.com and the Union for Reformed Judaism (URJ), a series of anti-bullying projects were put together and tailored for the students. Connecting beliefs in Judaism, the Ten Commandments, and the differences of both good and bad behavior patterns, the grade 4-7 students answered questions about their perceptions, knowledge and in some cases experiences about bullying. Given examples, all of the students worked in groups to role-play and demonstrate how bullying affects the daily life of kids their own age. The students acted out roles as the victim, the bully, and witnesses to bullying. Each student was asked to add comments onto posters that targeted specific questions in various areas of bullying. After over an hour of working together as a student body, the group was broken down to a more intimate setting back in their own classrooms with their teachers where the session continued and students could spend more time discussing how they may have personally been affected, what their thoughts were on making things better, and taking personal pledges against bullying and standing up to aid someone they may see going through it.
Many parents were on hand to watch the workshop and hear their children openly talk about their thoughts on the subject. Renee Dowling, a parent of two religious school students and member of the Synagogue’s educational committee notes, “It’s a step in the right direction in working towards creating a safe environment for all”. Rabbi David Freelund, the Synagogue’s Rabbi for the past six years added some personal thoughts to the workshop. “We are supposed to welcome all who come, and we respect the divine image in each person. The synagogue needs to be a welcoming and safe place for everyone”.
Children who are bullied often do not share their experiences with parents, teachers or other adults who can help. They can become withdrawn and struggle with self confidence, and their grade performance can be directly affected. This workshop was not only presented to enlighten the students on the support they have from the adult community and from their Jewish community, but to also discuss the importance of being supportive of their own peers that might be victims of these events. And on this day as religious school came to a close, students walked out together with smiles and a renewed sense of encouragement and accomplishment.
How much do you know about bullying? Take this 10 question survey to find out: http://www.education.com/quiz/bullying-myths.
Other bullying resources:
Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) bullying resources: http://urj.org//index.cfm?syspage=Search&search=bullying
Education.com bullying resources: http://www.education.com/definition/bullying
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services: Stop Bullying Now! http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids
Bullies to Buddies http://www.bullies2buddies.com
PBS Kids- It’s My Life | Bullies: Who’s a Target? http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/bullies/article3.html
Authors bio is coming up shortly.
